This issue has come up from time to time on the forum and has long been one of my favorite comics of all time. Why? Great art for certain and a well written story, that made sense and was full of action. Also it featured a guest appearance by Spider-Woman (Drew) and the first ever appearance of Rogue. I agree with the reviewer, it's awesome.
Was this ever reprinted on better quality paper?
Here is a review from Popcultureshock (as it is better written that what I would have come up with).
Comics You Should Own #2
by Greg Burgas 2005-06-29
AVENGERS ANNUAL #10
by Chris Claremont, Michael Golden, and Armando Gil
Marvel, 1 issue (#10), 1981
I should mention, as I do these, that there will be spoilers, even for the newer stuff. These comics have been out for a while, after all, and I don't know what you guys out there have read or not. The point of these comics is that it doesn't matter if you know what happens - they're still great stories. For instance, Avengers Annual #10.
Remember when Claremont was an excellent comic book writer? These days he seems like he's going through the motions, but back in the '70s and '80s - wow. Why he is writing an Avengers Annual is obvious on page 4, when some familiar mutants show up. Claremont dominated the X-Universe like no one else has dominated a section of a company's titles (not even Bendis), and when he wanted to use mutants, he used them wherever he felt like it, including an Avengers Annual, damn it!
This book is an example of why people often feel nostalgic for their comic book youth. This is an amazing book, packed with characters who are never overwhelmed by the magnitude of the story, plenty of action, ties to other comic books, excellent character interaction, and the introduction of a major player to the Marvel Universe. That character is, of course, Rogue, and we'll get to her in a bit. Claremont uses dozens of characters to tell the story, and even though we might think we're going to lose track of them, he never allows this. It's an impressive feat.
It also is an unusual comic book in that the Avengers are partly guest stars in their own book, the villains are more than capable to defeating them (and Rogue kicks the crap out of more than one Avenger), and the Avengers don't come off as the good guys in the book. This is a very mature comic book for its time and theme (superheroes, after all), and it makes all the more interesting to read.
We begin in San Francisco, where Spider-Woman rescues a woman who is falling from the Golden Gate Bridge. Claremont humanizes Jessica Drew in only a few panels, because she is unable to fly to shore with her burden, and instead must swim through the icy waters of the bay to rescue her. In the hospital, we learn the woman is Carol Danvers, a decorated pilot. We know she is also Ms. Marvel, the Avenger, but the doctors and police officers in the hospital don't know that. The mystery of what happened to Carol drives the plot, and although it gets cleared up quickly (Rogue attacked her), it's a nice way to begin the story. Instead of a supervillain simply attacking the Avengers, we get a mystery and not everything explained right away. Claremont also shows a little girl at the entrance to the hospital introduce herself to a cop as "Maddy Pryor." Is it just a favorite name of Claremont's, or was he plotting something even back in '81? It's the advantage of having one person write all the titles in one corner of a Universe - they have a long-term plan.
Jessica Drew asks for Charles Xavier's help in determining what happened to Carol, because she is in a coma and can't answer questions. In three pages, Claremont gets Xavier to San Fran and shows who attacked Carol, plus he throws in the X-Men fixing the Danger Room after the attack on Kitty in Uncanny X-Men #143, the famous Demon issue. Ah, compressed storytelling - remember it? On Page 7 Captain America gets his ass kicked. I'm serious. On Page 9 he gets thrown through the window of Avengers Mansion. On Page 10 Mystique disables Tony Stark, on Page 12 Rogue defeats Thor, and on Page 13 she takes down the Vision. She tries to absorb Wonder Man's powers on Page 14, but she can't, so she chucks him into a dumpster and takes off. Seven pages, and the Avengers' most powerful members are toast. Awesome. Rogue, of course, is acting on orders from Mystique, whose plan is to break the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants out of jail, where they were put after the attempt on Senator Kelly's life in Uncanny X-Men #141-142. See how Claremont pulls everything together? Rogue needs power, and they need Iron Man to disable the Riker's Island generator (by dropping him on it). So the reason for the attack on the Avengers becomes clear.
Meanwhile, we get Carol's backstory, as told originally in Avengers #197-200. She went off to some other dimension with Immortus's son, Marcus, to make sweet love (or that's what the Avengers thought). Why she returned to her world and disappeared is still a mystery. Again, Claremont is very good at tying things in with continuity, yet keeping everything accessible. I never read old Avengers comics, so I have no idea what had happened. Claremont recaps it in two pages, and it adds enough to the story so that I'm not totally lost, but I don't need to know it either. Marvel used to be good at this - note the use of the words "used to be." I'm not a super-continuity geek, but I think it's kind of cool that Marvel made an effort to keep everything in the same universe - if the X-Men fought with the Avengers, they would at least mention it in the next month's magazines! Not so much anymore.
Mystique and Rogue attack Riker's Island, and the battle royale begins! Destiny, Blob, Pyro, and Avalanche break out, and come oh so close to totally defeating the Avengers. Destiny uses her pre-cognitive abilities to keep the Avengers off-balance, and only the Scarlet Witch saves the day with her hex powers. See? Even when he's writing an Avengers book, Claremont has a mutant save the day! That scamp! Of course, it's not a complete victory for the good guys, because Rogue and Mystique escape. Claremont is always able to throw in little touches to heighten the mystery - Jessica Drew notes Mystique's resemblance to Nightcrawler, and Iron Man wonders where Mystique got access to high-level military technology. The Avengers do their thing and beat the bad guys, but it's fun to see how close they came to losing. Yes, I know that superheroes are always close to losing and then pull it out in the end, but very often it doesn't seem real. Here, the worry in the Avengers that they will lose is evident, and since we know that Ms. Marvel has permanently lost her powers to Rogue (as our southern belle thinks to herself more than once), the possibility exists that Rogue could suck someone else dry.
Usually, that would be the end of the book - villains beaten, good guys triumphant, all is well. But this is a Claremont book, and there's plenty of time for character interaction! The third act of the book takes place at Xavier's School, where Carol is recuperating. The Avengers come to ask what happened to her, and she freaks out at them. They left her in another dimension with a madman, and all they cared about was her baby (she was pregnant at the time - it's complicated, so don't ask). Claremont turns the tables on Earth's Mightiest Heroes - they didn't look after one of their own, because they were too concerned with otherworldly "cool" stuff. Carol was a friend of theirs, but they were too busy playing dress-up to make sure of what she wanted. It's a biting indictment of the superhero clique, and Claremont makes it subtly, without resorting to "let's-take-over-the-world-and-ruin-it-even-though-we're-trying-to-save-it" theatrics. This is not a happy happy joy joy kind of book, because at the end, the Avengers have to wonder what makes them heroes and what happens if they fail. Carol, as we see in the years to come, has had part of her cut out, and it takes her years to overcome it and almost drives her attacker insane.
The art is spectacular. Al Milgrom's cover is a tribute to the great Silver Age covers, with six different pictures on it, each telling part of the story. How can you resist: "See: Captain America totally defeated! Witness: The invincible Iron Man knocked out of action! Observe: Spider-Woman's daring midnight rescue! Behold: the deadly New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!"? Answer: you can't! It's a cliche, but it's true that they don't make them like that anymore, and the comics world is a little sadder for it. As for the interiors - Golden doesn't do enough these days, but he's the kind of artist whose work I would seek out even if I'm not terribly interested in the story (The 'Nam, anyone?). He packs the pages with visual information, but never overwhelms you. The battle between the Brotherhood and the Avengers requires him to draw Rogue, Mystique, Destiny, Pyro, Avalanche, Blob, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Nick Fury (it's Mystique, but still), Wonder Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Beast, and Jocasta, but he gets them all in and we're always sure what we're seeing and how the action is flowing (it may sound simple, but it's not). His Rogue alternates between maniacal power and fear and uncertainty - when she absorbs Thor's power, she is the picture of insanity, but when her power is fading, she looks like the scared girl she is. Golden's full-page spread of Wanda turning Pyro's flame monster into rock is beautiful and when Blob hits Wonder Man or Iron Man smacks Rogue, we feel it. Similarly, Carol's pain at the meeting with the Avengers is evident and raw, as is the shock on her ex-teammates' faces. It's a wonderful complement to the story.
This comic is famous, obviously, for the first appearance of Rogue. She is one of my favorites, and I think her character arc over the years is one of the more fascinating in superhero comics. The fact that she almost kills Ms. Marvel and steals all her powers as a debut is great, and also sets up her problems, which Claremont probably knew it would. He tended to look long-term, after all. She shows how formidable she can be, and I don't think she has ever been this formidable since. This issue also highlights her dependence on Mystique, something that would trouble her even after she went straight, as well as her insecurity, something it took her a long time to overcome. For Rogue alone this would be a great book, but Claremont doesn't let it stop there, and we're better for it.
This book has fluctuated in price over the years, depending on whether Rogue was popular or not. When I first saw it, it was over 20 dollars, but I eventually got it for 10. If you can find it for 15 or under, I highly recommend picking it up. It's the kind of book that makes you remember why you started buying comics in the first place. It's totally awesome, man.
